However, the reason why torrent sites go down changed over time. Two years ago most sites went offline every now and then because the server crashed, and couldn’t handle all the traffic. In 2005 most sites went down because of legal issues.
So what went down in 2005?
Giving an extensive list would be undoable, so I’ll stick by some major impact cases…
Lokitorrent
Lokitorrent was taken offline by the MPAA. Initially Lokitorrent’s owner Ed Webber was determined to fight the MPAA. He collected donations to pay for the legal costs and penalties. Within a few weeks Lokitorrent raised over $40,000 However, lokitorrent was taken offline anyway.
Btefnet
Btefnet.net was the most popular TV-torrent site until the MPAA decided to take it down in May 2005. At first they were determined to come back, but until now the site points to some sort of a scam organization. They are still active on irc though (#bt on Efnet).
In the meanwhile sites like tvtorrent.info and btseasonpass.com took over.
ThePiratebay
The piratebay went down in May 2005. They let the general public believe that they were forced to by swedish anti-piracy organisations, but this was a HOAX. They came back after a few days, new and improved. This is probably one of the best publicity stunts in the history of BitTorrent. When ThePiratebay came back, their traffic quadrupled.
Snarf-it
Snarf-it, a torrent site built on the ashes of the suprnovaforums went offline in oktober 2005. They were forced to leave the Netherlands because the Dutch antipiracy organization “BREIN” was planning to take down all torrent sites located in the Netherlands.
So the Snarf packed it’s stuff, erased the harddrive, moved to a safer location. The site was relaunched on 19 december exactly one year after suprnova died, with a new look.
part 1: A rough start
part 2: Legal stuff
part 3: Going Down
part 4: Bram Talking
part 5: Filling the gap
part 6: Torrent Clients
part 7: Advancing
